“I do not sit down at my desk to put into in verse somethng that is already clear in my mind. If it were clear in my mind I would have no incentive or need to write about it. I am an explorer…We do not write in order to be understood, we write in order to understand.”
Writers Speak
Margaret Atwood on the imperfect time to write
Writers Speak“I have longed decided if you wait for the perfect time to write, you’ll never write. There is no time that isn’t flawed somehow.”
– Margaret Atwood
Flannery O’Connor on forgetting oneself
Writers Speak“I never completely forget myself except when I am writing and I am never more completely myself than when I am writing.”
Grace Paley on what we don’t know
Writers Speak“We write about what we don’t know about what we know.”
Barbara Tuchman on motion in prose
Writers Speak“I try for motion in every paragraph. I hate sentences that begin “There was a storm.” Instead, write “A storm burst.”
– Barbara Tuchman
Simone de Beauvoir on a day without writing
Writers Speak“A day in which I don’t write leaves a taste of ashes.
Nicholson Baker on writing every day
Writers Speak“If you write every day, you’re going to write a lot of things that aren’t terribly good, but you’re going to have given things a chance to have their moments of sprouting.”
Peter De Vries on bacon in a skillet
Writers Speak“When I see a paragraph shrinking under my eyes like a strip of bacon in a skillet, I know I’m on the right track.”
Lee Child on the loneliness of the writing life
Writers Speak“Here is the fundamental reality about the writing business. It’s lonely. You spend all your time writing and then wondering whether what you wrote is any good.”
E.L. Doctorow on writing with the headlights on night
Writers Speak“Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go …It’s like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”